The effect of stress

On Wednesday I was going about my week and BAM..I got an extremely severe kidney infection. The cause? Stress. Over the past few days, I have had a great opportunity to look at how I can relieve that stress and do a better job of managing it. Here's what I've decided.

1. Know when to say no

I think one of the most important things that I have learned from this whole debacle is that I have to know when to say no. I just had way too much on my plate. Besides normal work stresses, my husband and I are also in the process of selling our house and moving to our new home. Since last week, I have reevaluated some of the less important holiday task and have reassigned them to others that are just as capable and not as stressed.

2. Knock some stuff out

Everyone has stuff that only they can do. So instead of continuing to try and get a little bit of everything done everyday, I've switched my approach. Now, I am spending a little more time on some specific task to get some more things knocked off of my list.

3. Take time off.

One of the things that everyone knows about me is that I really hate taking time off when I feel like there are things that need to get done. I knew that I wasn't feeling so hot last week, but I pushed through because felt under the gun. Sometimes, a much needed day of rest is exactly what is needed. From now on, I am going to make sure that I am get home early ( okay 7ish)


4. It's not personal, I just don't agree.

Some people are not going to like your work. Especially work that involves creativity and art. My mother thinks Picasso is ridiculous, most of the world would not not agree. I put a lot of mental and creative energy into everything I do, so when someone doesn't like what I'm doing, it's hard to not take it personally. I had a professor tell me once that I spent 30% of my improving my grade from a 97 to a 100. Everyone is not going to like everything I do. So, from now on, I'm going to do my best and leave the rest.

Hope you all have a stress free week!


I love getting your thoughts, you can reach me at jdanner@peoplelease.com




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